People at parties — we love ’em, we hate ’em, our Facebook walls are littered with annoying photos of ’em. But from the shores of San Francisco and New York City comes a finally useful PEOPLE AT PARTIES, performing at Church tonight in the form of a bass-mad dub-fi electro project from the ladies of Von Iva and Boyskout. Von Iva, select party people may recall, were a fairly underrated electro-rock trio out of the Bay Area that casually flirted with dance floors a few years ago with the infectious and empowering synth-buzz hit "Living For It."

The vast sound of P@P takes that approach even further, and early listens to thick new tracks "Control" and "Happy B" (posted below) suggest a proper electronic evolution of the synth template Ladytron craftily designed in the previous decade. But where the UK band relied on an unapproachable, detached cool, People At Parties seem intent on getting up close and personal with a more dramatic and romantic approach to bass-heavy new-wave revivalism. These two tracks are among the best I've heard so far in 2011, and People At Parties upcoming debut EP should cause a ruckus in the clubs.

Not to be outdone, People At Parties are here in town tonight on tour with Ohio’s VANITY THEFT, best known around these parts as the indie chicks who stole away Night Fruit’s Amanda Dellevigne from Boston earlier this year. Our very own electronic maven, ANDRE OBIN, headlines the show, and God help save us from the vicious Cold War techno aggression he'll unleah in the Fens if the Bruins fail to tie up tonight's Stanley Cup Final Game 4. Hockey-mad Obin, who promises to perform with a Bruins' "Believe" towel hanging from one of his synths, will either lead us in cool celebratory victory (in the name of his smooth, confident house track "Soft Rain," posted below) or allow us to dance angry in the face of on-ice defeat.